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Thanks guys (and gal). I really wanted to attend the HPers meeting this year but I don't think I'll be able to do it as I just started a new job in January. I already have a week in Hawaii and 2 weeks on Mt Elbrus planned. That'll pretty much chew-up my vacation for this year. Sorry you couldn't join us on Mauna Kea Doug but hopefully we can meet at Devil's Lake over a weekend this summer.

Congrats, George. You're an inspiration to the rest of us!

Florida Frank wrote:

swankman07 wrote:This Presidents' Day weekend is my first trip of the year. Flying into Baltimore and going to Delaware, New Jersey, then west for the three-fer in PA, MD and WV.

How did it go? Did your plans get scuttled due to the snowstorm on Sunday? No precip. here but heard it was quite the mess to the south through VA/WV.

I just beat the snowstorm, but the road up Spruce Knob was treacherous. That road isn't maintained in winter and even though it hadn't snowed in a while, it was totally iced over in places. I actually gave up driving and started walking, but realized it was over 5 miles to go each and I was running out of time. Just when I got back to my car...here come 3 AWD vehicles and the folks in the first offered to give me a lift to the top and back. Saved the highpoint!

I really need to get my trip reports up. Been busy as hell since returning...

sm0421 wrote:Congrats! I'll hike UT and ID July 4th weekend and looking for a partner, let me know if you are interested.

Also planning for Granite Peak with gwave47 in Aug!!! So happy to find a partner on the forum, he is 44/50 now.

Labor Day weekend I'll be at ND/SD for some road trip, happy highpointing!

Hey sm0421, I'm gonna strongly consider joining up with ya on the UT/ID trip and/or maybe MT in August. It's a little far out yet and dunno what my job situation is going to be then, but I'll definitely meet y'all up with y'all if life allows!

Alpinist wrote:My 15 mins of fame, from today's local paper...

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120302/news/703029826/

Congrats! It's a great accomplishment. One day I hope to get there myself.

Just got back from Hawaii. What a fun week and what a great place to celebrate!



I also finished my state highpoint album.

zodis wrote:Congratulations Alpinist! What's next on the docket? Seven Summits?

Thanks. I'm still considering the 7-summits. I'll be on Mt Elbrus in May. My hesitation with Everest is being away from home/work for 2+ months. That's a very long time to be without income and away from family.

hey congrats again!!
maybe you can convince your wife to do Everest with you.. then you're not "leaving family behind" for 2 months

Alpinist wrote:Just got back from Hawaii. What a fun week and what a great place to celebrate!



I also finished my state highpoint album.

Just what everyone wants to see on their Hawaiian vacation....SNOW!

Jow wrote:

Alpinist wrote:Just got back from Hawaii. What a fun week and what a great place to celebrate!

Just what everyone wants to see on their Hawaiian vacation....SNOW!

It is a bit bizarre to go from beach weather to sub freezing temps in only a couple of hours drive. We actually brought crampons with us, just in case we encountered any ice or frozen snow on the summit ridge in early March. I didn't want to invest the time and money to climb Mauna Kea and then be turned back on the final section by something that can be so easily managed.

We got very lucky with the weather on the Big Island. There were severe storm warnings and flash flood warnings almost every day on Oahu, Maui and Kauai. They even got hail and tornados. My wife's family was visiting Maui while we were there. They were getting absolutely hammered with rain while we had almost perfect weather on the Kona Coast.

MSNBC Weather Report

Hawaii weather report.

congratulations!!! I love your state highpoint album!!

I added a reference album for the USGS markers for the state highpoints. I searched through the SP image database and added all of them that I could find but there are still many missing. (Some states don't have a USGS marker.) If you have a photo any of the missing ones, please add it!

http://www.summitpost.org/state-highpoint-usgs-markers/781662

Congratulations Alpinist! It is pretty funny that you left the 80 degree weather of Chicago to go hike in the snow in Hawai'i

chicagotransplant wrote:Congratulations Alpinist! It is pretty funny that you left the 80 degree weather of Chicago to go hike in the snow in Hawai'i

Thanks! It was actually cool out when we left but you're right about the return. I figured we come back home to a March blizzard but it was indeed in the 80's. Crazy weather...

Congrats Alpinist! I don't log into Summitpost that much, but I just read about your accomplishment. It's inspiring. Way to go!!!